


Best Behavior

by Housefrau



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bedsharing, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Swearing, The Shy Kind, not the fun kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 10:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13385448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Housefrau/pseuds/Housefrau
Summary: This is a Hannibal Prompt for a friend! Their prompt was "awkward bedsharing because they both know they love each other."I chose the time gap in episode 3x13, between Will and Hannibal escaping the transport van, and when The Great Red Dragon comes a'huntin'.The rating is because there's swearing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯





	Best Behavior

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kristylee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kristylee/gifts).



“Going my way?”

Will would have laughed if his head wasn’t spinning like the Gravitron he’d ridden as a kid. He’d thrown up then and was considering throwing up now. He swallowed the feeling down as he stared at Hannibal, waiting for his vision to focus. Dr. Lecter really was in a police cruiser, and he wanted Will to come with him. No, he was asking Will to come with him.

Will got in the passenger seat and wearily pulled the door closed. Hannibal reached across him to draw the seatbelt over Will’s chest.

“Safety first.”

By the time they arrived at the cabin Will felt like himself again, down to the pit in his stomach that he tried to keep at bay. They left the cruiser parked behind a line of trees, so it wasn’t visible from the road, and made their way up the property to the edge of the bluff. It was eroding, and the water below would be rife with bedrock. Will studied the drop. Hannibal was talking to him, but Will was too tired and too hungry to take the bait being dangled before him.

He stared out over the ocean as Hannibal walked away, and for several moments longer until Hannibal called to him from the door of the house. Will finally looked away from the water and followed Hannibal inside, taking a seat at the kitchen counter.

Hannibal searched the cabinets and pantry, and began to assemble a modest dinner of boxed pasta, jarred sauce, and canned vegetables. He added spices along the way and served it with no less presentation than normal.

“I knew you were a murderer, but I didn’t know you were a magician,” Will said. Hannibal laughed.

“Our dear Abigail said almost precisely the same thing. As I told her, you should always have non-perishables on hand in case of emergencies.” Hannibal took his seat.

They ate in silence, neither trying to disguise their hunger. It had been a long drive and the air was thick with violence to come. Nothing tasted like it had spoiled, at least.

As Hannibal took his empty plate, Will leaned back in his chair.

“I need a shower.”

“A wonderful idea. You’ll find the master bath down the hall, and the bedroom connected to it. I suggest rest as well. It may very well be a long night,” Hannibal said.

Will nodded in agreement, apologizing as the chair scraped loudly across the floor when he stood. They exchanged a glance in silent agreement that apologizing for something so minor hadn’t been necessary, and Will headed to the bathroom. His clothes were stained with blood from the van, and he left them in a heap on the floor. As he showered, he let his mind wander to Hannibal, and then to Dolarhyde. He ended his shower quickly.

It wasn’t until Will was standing in the bathroom with a towel around his waist that he realized he didn’t have any clean clothes here. Great. In the connecting bedroom he looked through the dresser and found a clean pair of underwear. He pulled them on and tried not to wonder if they belonged to Hannibal, or to some nameless victim who’d probably overcharged him for the cabinet installation in this place.

Will dragged himself into the bed at the same time as he heard Hannibal entering the bathroom.

He woke up to the mattress shifting beside him. His body felt heavy, and the sky outside was a deep shade of pink. He wasn’t sure if it was dawn or dusk, and Hannibal being this close only unsettled him more.

“No. No way.”

“Calm yourself, William. We must remain close to one another, lest a dragon come skulking,” Hannibal whispered. Then he said, in his normal tone, “I assure you that I will remain on my best behavior. I will even stay on my side of the bed.”

Will watched him. Even now Hannibal was primed for a fight. He sat propped against the pillows, his legs extended and ankles crossed, his eyes on the door. He’d be off the bed in two movements and across the room in as many strides. He was also fully dressed, in dark slacks and a dark grey shirt.

Will found himself more vulnerable by comparison, laying on his stomach with one arm tucked beneath his pillow. In somebody else’s underwear. It made him apprehensive, so he sat up and pulled the blankets over his lap.

“Can’t you go sit in the living room or something?” Will asked.

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes!”

Their eyes met and Hannibal smirked. Will looked away in embarrassment. Fuck.

“As I said, we must remain close.”

“Yeah, and you’ll be on your ‘best behavior’, but you don’t have a good track record for best behavior.”

Hannibal laughed in earnest. Will hated the way it made his heart jump. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Jack had brought him onto the Hobbs case, and Will had considered himself fucked up _then_.

“Is something on your mind, Will?”

“No.”

“Then the flush in your cheeks is… what? Exhilaration?”

Will bristled at the sound of Hannibal stifling another laugh.

“Shut up.”

“Now, don’t be rude.”

“Fuck you, Hannibal.”

Will turned onto his side to face away from him and jammed his arm under the pillow once again. He didn’t intend to sleep.

Hannibal watched him. He could read in Will’s body language that he was fighting sleep, and the corners of his lips turned up into a smile when Will let out the half-snore of a person drifting off. He himself could last on very little sleep, so he settled back to let his mind wander.

After some time, Will rolled over. Hannibal looked toward him, studying his features. Will’s breathing was slightly jarred; it was the erratic pace caused by bad dreams. Hannibal reached over and, gently as he could, stroked Will’s hair. He could feel the heat of Will’s skin beneath his palm. A nightmare.

He’d assured Will that he would remain on his own side of the bed, and he intended to keep that promise. He drew Will closer with his light touches, until the younger man was nestled into his side. Hannibal hummed softly as he stroked his hair, and the back of his neck, and down his shoulders. Will would be rabid when he awoke, Hannibal mused, but for now he was docile and Hannibal was quite enjoying it.

He let his fingers glide through Will’s hair, winding around the curls that had formed because of his shower. He thought about the Will Graham from all those years ago, with his ill-fitting plaid shirts and his untamed locks. He thought about the vulnerability in his eyes after killing Garret Jacob Hobbs, the blood in his hair, and how his curls had soaked it up. He ran his fingers through Will’s hair again now, wondering how this polished style would look stained red.

Will stirred from his sleep. Hannibal let his fingers slide away as Will lifted his head.

“Hannibal, what the hell?”

“Hm?”

“You said you’d be on your best behavior!” Will sat up, disoriented from sleep.

“If you’ll notice, you are currently on _my_ side of the bed.” Hannibal allowed himself to sound irritated, simply because he knew how easily it got under Will’s skin. He held a smirk at bay when the color rose in Will’s cheeks.

Will slid back to the other side of the bed, then ran his hands over his face. _Fuck_.

“If you’re feeling rested, we should get up. Your clothes were on the floor so I hung them in the closet. They are, however, quite stained with blood. I recommend you search the closet for something clean.”

Hannibal got out of bed and took a jacket from the closet for himself. “There are a variety of sizes available, but I selected some that I thought would fit you best. There is a bottle of wine awaiting us in the kitchen, if you’ll join me.”

Will waited for Hannibal to leave the room, then got up and went to the closet. Hannibal had hung slacks and a shirt up in front and Will noticed, with great irritation, that he’d gotten his sizing correct. He told himself that Hannibal had checked the tags on his actual clothes and didn’t guess by sight. He pulled on somebody else’s socks and his own shoes, smoothed his hair back, then headed out.

Hannibal was in the kitchen getting the wine, and he looked Will over with a smile of approval. Will took a moment to admire him in return. Three years in that beige jumpsuit must have been hell. This understated outfit wasn’t Hannibal’s normal style, but it clearly gave him a boost of confidence. Not that Hannibal needed a larger ego.

“See something you like, Will?” Hannibal watched him with amusement.

“…I was reading the label. Looks like a good wine?” Will met Hannibal’s gaze, an eyebrow raising.

“Ah, indeed. It’s an old favorite of mine.” Hannibal turned away to pick up two wine glasses, and Will stepped up to the window to gaze out into the pitch black of night. He knew the ocean was there, hiding in the shadows. He could hear it, but he couldn’t see it.

As Hannibal approached behind him, Will’s mind wandered to the wine. He thought about the deep red of it, and the deep red of blood, and how it would look here compared to light-polluted Baltimore.

“You’re playing games with yourself in the dark of the moon,” Hannibal said. His voice sliced through Will’s thoughts, the way it always had. 

Will turned his back to the darkness and faced Hannibal.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday gift for Kristylee! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!


End file.
